Gaza is thankfully seeing a five-day ceasefire start today between Israel and the Palestinians, but just as calm is taking hold there, unrest continues in Ferguson, St Louis following the death of black teenager Michael Brown on Saturday. However, social media is bringing those in Gaza to the unlikely aid of protesters in Ferguson.

Protesters have been taking to the streets in Ferguson for the past four nights following reports that police shot Brown while he had his arms raised and he was unarmed. That information has not been verified yet, but the protestors have been met by heavily armed riot police attempting to control the situation and prevent further looting/fires/injuries on both sides from occurring. There are multiple reports of arrests, assaults, and the use of tear gas, and that’s where the experience of those living in Gaza has come to the fore.

Tweets are appearing from residents of Gaza informing those in Ferguson how best to cope with the effects of tear gas. The key advice is not to rub your eyes, not to splash your eyes with water, and to always run into the wind if possible. There’s also reassurance that the pain will pass if you stay calm and do nothing.

It’s basic stuff, but if you’ve never been subjected to tear gas before your instincts will tell you to swill your eyes due to the pain being suffered. Hopefully these tweets are being read by those in Ferguson before they get tear gas in their eyes!

Before the Internet became such a universal method of communication, this kind of advice would not have been possible from people thousands of miles away. We’d also know much less about what was actually happening on the ground day-to-day.